I watched with wide eyes as the fire raced through the building. Genuine fear and shock racing through me as I looked at Aya, watching him as he watched the fire happening. Then we both started trying to get out of the car. The impact from the explosion and the heat had practically sealed the doors to the car shut so we couldn't get out. I finally looked at the driver's side window and elbowed it, breaking it as I started to crawl out. I could hear the faint sounds of police sirens coming towards us as I hit the concrete. I quickly got up as I ran around the car, seeing someone on the hood of the car. As I approached the body, I saw it was Akio, his hands and face covered by burn marks and smoke residue, part of his hair black at the ends as he laid there unconscious. I shook him frantically, trying to get him up as I saw Aya crawling across the seats and getting out the same way I did. He got up and came to me as he said,

"Is he alive?"

"I think so..."

I knew I couldn't do anything about them and I looked around as I saw Toki leaning against the car, the impact from the explosion had flung Akio, Toki and Aoki back towards us, Akio on the hood, Toki against the car, the impact from his body denting the car as Aoki laid a little further away, almost off the sidewalk and on the street. I remembered seeing Mikkie coming towards us when this was happening and I looked around for him. I saw him getting up, his blonde hair falling from where it was once gathered up as he stood to his feet, shaky for a moment before he got up and ran over to us. Aya had gone to Aoki, pulling his hair back from his face as he tried to wake him. Mikkie went over to me as he cursed under his breath and looked around as he said,

"We should get out of here before the police come."

I saw Aya getting back up as he walked over to us and said,

"What are you saying?"

"That we have to get out of here."

"Are you suggesting we leave them here?"

"What should we do then Aya? Carry them, all of them on our backs?"

Aya looked back down at Aoki and I saw sincere sadness in the corner of Aya's pretty hazel eyes. His long lashes touching down on his cheek as the open and closed slowly. His emotions were getting the best of him and he knew better. He sighed as he said,

"We should go."

So, regretfully, we turned and left to make our escape as the sirens got louder.

We got into the subway, Mikkie calling Jia to let him know what was happening as we boarded a train headed towards downtown Manhattan. I sat in between Mikkie and Aya as I stared ahead at the window in front of me. As I did, I heard little crystal sounds and I turned and saw Aya shaking his hair out, pieces of shattered glass falling on the floor at his feet. I noticed he didn't have a scratch on him, not a single mark, just broken glass in his caramel hair. I reached up to some of the wounds on my face, most of them near my cheek and forehead as I dabbed them, some blood still coming from them. I felt Aya shift beside me as he reached into his pocket and he handed me a tissue. I cleaned my face up with it as I thanked him. Long after Mikkie hung up with Jia, he sat beside me, same as always, emotionless and uncaring. It was like he didn't care that the people closest to us were probably seriously wounded and we just left them behind. I didn't want to leave them and I know Aya didn't...because Akio and Aoki never would. Akio wouldn't have left me behind, not if he had a choice and Aoki would risk life and limb for Aya. From what I know about Toki, though he's self absorbed and self centered, he would have not left Mikkie behind...especially because of the rumors and the way that Toki acts around him...he wouldn't have left him. But Mikkie did. It was like he didn't care at all about what would happen to them. I did and Aya did...but he sat there like a cold stone statue. His blonde hair over his shoulder, almost perfectly straight except for the occasional bump of a wave every couple of inches down, his pale skin and cold eyes glaring ahead at nothing. I know as a yakuza, emotions would get you down and you're expected to not have many especially those that could bring you down. But to not have any, at all, was almost inhuman.

We arrived at Jia's building almost twenty minutes later and Jun did a check on us to make sure we were not seriously hurt. I remembered he was there before the bomb blew, but I guess he got away too. Jia and Tsubasa stood beside each other as Tsubasa looked a little shocked, his white blonde hair falling around his pretty face as he said,

"Jiki and Ai'iro were there."

Jia sighed as he said,

"I guess Keiishiro didn't want to go out quietly."

Tsubasa shook his head as he said,

"This isn't Keiishiro's style. Besides he was involved with petty thugs and street gangsters. What would they know about making a bomb?"

Jia nodded as he said,

"This will defiantly put me out of effect for while."

He turned to Gabriel who was there quietly as he said,

"Gabriel, see if you can find out where everyone was taken."

Gabriel nodded as he turned back to us and said,

"Aka-chan, Jun, Mikkie, Aya you guys can go home."

Mikkie tucked some stray hair behind his ear as he said,

"Jia I'm not hurt, maybe I could run the check."

"Mikkie..."

"Gabriel and Tai shouldn't waste their time. They should find out the damages and the losses done to you don't you think?"

Jia sighed as he said,

"Gabriel tell Tai to go get started and the damage and losses. Also call Takeo and set up a meeting with him, he's gotta know about this too. Mikkie find out where they were taken. The rest of you can go."

We nodded and went home.

My head hurt and my face was feeling achy when I arrived back at my apartment. I checked my face seeing the forming clots of blood on my face as I changed my clothes that smelled like smoke and went to bed. The next morning, I got up and went to the office. I wanted to know if anything had been found out. I headed to Jia's office and knocked on the door as I was allowed in.

"Ohayo Aka-chan."

"Ohayo."

"What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to know if anything had been found out about where everyone was taken."

Jia stood up, picking up his coat behind him as he brought a cigarette to his mouth and left it there unlit as he nodded and said,

"I was going there now actually. Mikkie found out early this morning. You can drive us there."

"Okay."

A few minutes later, we arrived at the hospital. Since they had no ID on them, they were placed in the "John Doe" ward of the hospital. Each bed was separated by a curtain and I went to Akio as soon as I spotted him. I pulled a chair up beside his bed as I said hi to him. He turned to me as I saw a few minor burn marks on his neck, his hands wrapped in gauze as he laid there, otherwise fine. I smiled as I said,

"How do you feel?"

"I got a bitch of a headache, first degree burns on my hands, couple of welts and bruises everywhere from where I fell and landed but hey...I'm still hot."

I laughed as I said,

"I'm sorry that I left you behind."

He waved it off as he said,

"Don't worry about it. I know you didn't have a choice. Besides, if you did take me, what would you do with me?"

I shrugged as he said,

"Exactly. So don't worry about it."

He reached for my hand as he took it, the gauze on his hands rubbing over my hand as I looked at him and smiled, kissing the top of his gauze covered hand and said,

"Do you know when you're being released?"

"Nah...not yet."

"Why'd they put you in here?"

"No ID. Plus I wasn't really conscious when they brought me in here."

"You didn't have your wallet?"

"I did, just no ID. None of us carry ID. You should start doing that."

"Won't they find out who you are by finger prints?"

"Yeah. I have a false name here. My record is clean. They'll think we were innocent by standards."

"Oh okay. How's everyone else?"

"I'm not sure who else is here. I heard Toki bitching earlier though so I know he's fine."

"Do you remember anything that happened?"

"Not a damn thing. After getting out of the car for Aya everything went blank. Good thing I was lagging behind looking for my cigarettes."

"Yeah. I hope everyone else is okay."

"They probably are."

"I'm going to find out when you're leaving."

I stood up and pulled the curtain back as I left, closing the curtain behind me. I looked around for a doctor and I heard Jia and Toki talking to one. I peeked in as I said,

"Excuse me?"

The doctor looked at me as Jia notioned me in. The doctor then continued.

"He suffered first degree burns, a mild concussion so he'll have a headache for a few days."

"When can I go?"

The doctor sighed as he said,

"In a few days."

"What!? Why!?"

"We want to make sure the burn marks won't scar."

"Fuck man, I wanna leave now! I want a smoke! And a drink! And I have a headache!"

Jia sighed as he said,

"Screaming about it won't make it any better stupid!"

Toki glared at him as the doctor said,

"It's just a precaution. If your burn marks aren't that serious then you could go in two days."

He then excused himself as I noticed Toki was still sulking, his hands resting beside him, his fingers slightly darker then usual and the tip of his left hand pinky was missing. I never noticed before but now that I did, it seemed weird. Anyway I left and I returned back to Akio's side.

After two days, everyone was discharged. Those that had minor wounds anyway. I heard Jiki and Ai'iro were not so easily unharmed and neither was Aoki. Toki and Akio were released and for the time being, Jia had to lay low. A lot of his lower heads had died in that explosion, so had the Yami's so they were trying to figure out what to do meanwhile and also trying not to be discovered that they were short handed. Meanwhile, I ran a few errands for Akio while he was down. Mostly keep him company because everything in New York could be delivered. I would stop in every now and then since Akio had given me the spare key to his place. I was always hesitant to use it since Akio might be...busy. But Akio said to just announce myself when I got there. He spent a week trying to recover. The burns on his hands prohibited from clenching his hand properly which meant he couldn't hold a gun well. His skin wasn't completely scarred, but it did leave some abrasions around the sides of his thumbs and palms from where he put his arms up to protect his face. He also had to cut his hair slightly since the fire synged some of his hair at the ends. It was angled slightly, but he said it was just until his hair grew out again.

Toki complained about the gauze around his arms. Since he was so fussy about leaving, he didn't want to be examined too much. Plus he complained so much, they finally discharged him sooner then expected. Jia wouldn't let him remove the gauze though and had Jun look over him. Of course they fought every single time Toki had to be checked because he didn't like having his arms bounded up anymore. But at any rate, slowly Jia, along with Tai and Gabriel tried digging to see who this was. Tsubasa, and what remained of the Yami were also looking and they had Takeo searching all over for anything. Finally Gabriel and Tai stumbled across something.

"Jia was right. Whoever this is, it isn't Keiishiro. He wanted Jia out of the way so badly, that he sunk every last cent into someone from the East. Probably another yakuza...maybe a triad."

Jia sighed as he said,

"Shit....he's really trying to get me out of the way."

Gabriel nodded as he opened a map of the city and spread it across Jia's desk and said,

"Since we've been laying low, lower heads have been fending off here and here."

He pointed to the docks and to parts of Brooklyn. Jia looked around as he said,

"This is some real dangerous shit. I may actually have to be careful around this one. He knew it was my building, that I centered some of my activities there. He knew the Yami would be there as well. This explosion has caused me significant loss in my lower heads, the losses money wise have been estimated close to an even million. And worst off, he probably thought I would be there."

Gabriel nodded as he said,

"We can't even find this guy yet. He's hiding and he's hiding well."

Tai then intervened

"Worst off, this guy is a pro. The police said the explosion could have come from a gas leak or a pipe could have blown. They don't suspect it was arson. So this guy is a pro."

Jia sighed, reaching into his pockets for his cigarette case as he got one out and lit it. He inhaled as he said,

"This guy could cause me serious problems. With my two best down and so many dead...he's trying to take advantage of the situation."

He smoked, for a moment as he thought and then cursed as he said,

"I may actually have a challenge here. With people being burned alive by this motherfucker, there's no telling what could happen next. Tai, Gabriel I want you two to do anything and everything to find this guy or some information at the most. I need someone to call Takeo for me, I'll call Nishiki as well and let him know of my rising problem. Maybe he could find something out for me. Also, Aka-chan I want you to guard Tsubasa."

"Me?"

"Yeah, he doesn't trust lower heads and neither do I and his two best are down so he needs someone to stand guard for him. As for everyone else, we should all watch our backs and pray no other shit goes down while I'm trying to gather what's left of the lower heads for defense. Someone call Mikkie and Jun and tell them both to start finding out if the lower heads found out anything. Also, contact everyone who's down and tell them to stay home and don't leave for anything. They don't have the strength right now to try and work. Also, Aya's partner less for the time being so someone watch his back until Aoki's better. Everyone get to work."

We all nodded as we were dismissed. I then went to work.